The applicant claims and requests a foreign priority, through the Paris Convention for the Protection of Industry Property, based on a patent application filed in the Republic of Korea (South Korea) with the filing date of Apr. 24, 2000, with the application number 20-2000-0011568, by the applicant. (See the Attached Declaration)
The invention relates to an automatic tablet supplying and packaging system. More particularly, the present invention relates to a tablet cassette installation-error preventing system for an automatic tablet supplying and packaging apparatus that detachably installs therein a plurality of tablet cassettes.
As is well known, an automatic tablet supplying and packaging apparatus realizes an pharmacy automation by enabling different types of prescription pills to be automatically packaged into a plurality of paper bags. To separately contain prescription tablets, the automatic system requires a plurality of tablets cassettes each containing a different type of tablets. The tablet cassettes are detachably mounted on the outer periphery of the system. In this construction, when a doctor""s prescription information is input, the system allows required tablet cassettes to release tablets and the released tablets are packaged by packaging paper into tablet bags each of which can be taken by a patient one bag per dosage.
For the system operation, a pharmacist operating the tablet system needs to dismount tablet cassettes for refill when required. The refilled tablet cassettes are mounted back in the tablet system. When refilling the tablet cassettes, the concern of the operation pharmacist is to make sure each tablet cassette is installed where it was; otherwise the consequences could risk their patients. Although the racks receiving tablet cassettes in the system are numbered thereon and the tablet cassettes are also numbered thereon, because the tablet cassettes are same in size, there exists a possibility that a tablet cassette can be erroneously installed on a wrong rack which does not match in labeled number, which could lead to fatal results.
Accordingly, there has been a strong demand on the market for double-checking the tablet cassette installation and disabling a wrong installation of tablets cassettes.
Therefore, an object of the invention is to double-check a tablet cassette installation, thereby improving product reliability. Anther object of the invention is to prevent a tablet cassette installation error by disabling a wrong installation of tablet cassettes at the first stage by providing an error detector between tablet cassettes and cassette supports.
To achieve the above-described objects, a tablet cassette installation-error preventing system for an automatic tablet supplying and packaging apparatus including a tablet dropping unit and a tablet packaging unit below the tablet dropping unit, wherein a plurality of tablet cassettes are detachably mounted on an outer periphery of the tablet dropping unit to drop tablets therefrom to the tablet packaging unit, comprises: a plurality of cassette supports each having a front side, a rear side, a top side, and a rotor drive therein, wherein the rear side is fixedly attached on the outer periphery of the tablet dropping unit, wherein a plurality of pin holes are formed in the top side of said each cassette support, wherein the pin holes are respectively identical to each other in size and shape; the plurality of tablet cassettes detachably mounted on the plurality of cassette supports in correspondence thereto, wherein said each tablet cassette has a bottom side and a rotor therein operably engaged to the rotor drive; an installation-error detector having a base with an upper surface and a lower surface, wherein the upper surface of the detector base is attached to the bottom side of said each tablet cassette, wherein a plurality of locking pins corresponding to the plurality of pin holes downwardly extend from the lower surface of the detector base so that said locking pins can respectively fit in said pin holes of said each cassette support when said each tablet cassette is mounted on said cassette support.
In a preferred version, the tablet cassette installation-error preventing system further comprises one or more hole inserts to selectively block the pin holes, wherein the plurality of locking pins of said each tablet cassette are less in numeric quantity than the plurality of pin holes of said each cassette support so as to allow only one of said tablet cassettes to fit on said each cassette support.
Each hole insert has a hook protruded along a lower rim thereof and an elastic slot formed upwardly from a lower surface thereof, whereby said each insert is elastically inserted into a selected one of the pin holes. A flange is formed along an upper rim of said each hole insert, whereby said each hole insert is tightly maintained in the selected one of the pin holes. The pin holes are aligned in two or three rows such that each adjacent pair of the pin holes are equally distanced.
The advantages of the present invention are numerous. First, the installation-error detector enables a double checkup of the tablet cassettes installation by thoroughly preventing a possible installation error which may result in fatal consequences to patients. That is, the installation-error detector prevents a wrong placement of the tablet cassettes at the first stage, thereby improving product reliability.
Second, that the installation-error detector enables a pharmacist to feel safe installation of the tablet cassette while matching a tablet cassette to its corresponding cassette support, thereby exempting even a slight possibility of an erroneous installation of the tablet cassettes in addition to the double checkup through the labeling or numbering on the tablet cassettes and the cassette supports.
Third, the tablet cassette installation-error preventing system according to the present invention is easily applicable to a variety of automatic tablet supplying systems which need to completely satisfy strict regulations in each country due to its structural simplicity, for example, without regard to power supply.
Although the present invention is briefly summarized, the fuller understanding of the invention can be obtained by the following drawings, detailed description and appended claims.